By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

A Cabinet minister yesterday pledged that “the polluter will pay”, with the Government “holding their breath” that last week’s Exuma oil spill does no long-lasting harm to the area’s marine life.

Vaughn Miller, minister for the environment and natural resources, speaking prior to the weekly Cabinet meeting said the Government will “pursue every avenue” to ensure the party responsible for spilling 30,000 gallons of diesel fuel in waters off Georgetown covers the entire clean-up costs.

He based his assertion on “the guidelines and principles” established for such pollution-related incidents. “Every avenue we will pursue this, and we intend to pursue this,” Mr Miller added. However, it has yet to be established whether the ship owner; BISX-listed FOCOL Holdings; Bahamas Power & Light (BPL) or some combination of all three are ultimately liable for the spill, and if it may be covered by insurance.

Mr Miller, meanwhile, said it was “easy” to contain the diesel fuel because of where it happened at the Old Navy Base cove.

Because of the location, and the spill’s containment in one cove, clean-up crews were able to move “aggressively” by working through the night to suck up most of the spill. Mr Miller added: “We’re grateful for that. We’ve not completed, but up to this point we’re thankful also that there wasn’t any inclement weather, and so everything co-operated and it worked well for us.”

The oil spill was caused by a ruptured hose that was transferring diesel fuel from the MT Arabian, a vessel owned by D&T Shipping, which had been contracted by FOCOL Holdings’ Sun Oil subsidiary to make the delivery to Bahamas Power & Light (BPL).

Mr Miller said some 95 percent of the oil spill has been remediated, and added: “We’ve collected all of the sand on shore and, of course, we’re processing it and we’ll be able to give an update on it once we are ready to give our findings.”

The environmental impact for animals and wildlife was “minimal” to-date, and more Ministry of the Environment officials will be in Exuma today to carry out fresh assessments. “We’re waiting in terms of the animals, whatever that’s in the sand, to get a report on that,” Mr Miller added.

“But the marine life at present, our officers who were there last week said it was minimal, but we’re holding our breath on it and hoping that once they return to do another assessment that it would remain consistent with that. The beach will be closed presently until August 10, and then we’ll reevaluate to see if we should extend it or whether we can open it at that time.”

Oil spills such as last week’s may occur again due to the frequency with which fossil fuels are shipped across The Bahamas, especially to the Family Islands. Mr Miller said BPL has committed to do a “reassessment, and certainly we will also do an assessment, and then we’ll submit our recommendations, but we’re concerned about it; very concerned”.